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Wednesday, March 18, 2009

The Blessing of Being in the Right Place at the Right Time

So the coolest thing ever just happened to me. I have started writing at the Mechanic’s Institute Library, a private library in downtown San Francisco. I sit in a comfy leather chair next to the little area set aside for children’s books. They have a small collection because it really isn’t a library for children, being downtown in the financial district and all. On display was my very own “In a Blue Room.” But that’s not the cool part.

In the little reading area was a grandma and her little granddaughter. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the little girl pick out my book and bring it to grandma. She said “we have to read this one, but we have to buy it too” which appealed to both the idealistic writer in me and the guy with a mortgage. I snuck over and hid behind the bookcase so I could listen. Grandma gave a lovely, spirited reading. When she was finished, I went over and asked the little girl, Vivian, if she liked the book. “Yes,” she said. Then grandma asked if I had written it and I said I had. Seems this wasn’t the first time they read it and Grandma Katherine had read the bios on the flap a previous time and knew I lived in SF. So when I came over she thought I might be the author. But here is the best part. As she was explaining all this, little Vivian tugged on her sleeve and politely, if impatiently, demanded, “will you read it again!”